Malakai by Michele Hauf Read Free Book Online

you."
    He drew a hand up higher and slid it around
until she squeezed her thighs over his fingers, stopping him from
landing the prize. "So tell me about your work," she said. "Have
you been busy lately?"
    "Uh…" He'd thought that conversation over and
now sex was on the menu. But if she wanted to chat he wasn't so
much the Casanova that he couldn't cater to a woman's desire for
connection beyond skin on skin. "Actually, since I met you I've
been a demon over the forge. You're my muse, Rissa. You like that?"
He bent to kiss her jaw and licked up to her earlobe. "Mm, you
taste good, sugar cube."
    "Your muse," she said on a gasp. "Sure. I,
uh…oh, Kai…"
    ***
    It was too late to stop it. The universe had
spun their fates into motion. And she didn't want to stop the whirl
because it felt too damn good when she was with Malakai. But
continuing their relationship would challenge her heart. For the
first time since the Unseelie king had cursed her, Rissa knew she
would regret every moment of pleasure she shared with this valiant
wolf.
    Malakai Saint-Pierre would, indeed, break
her. But not until she had broken him beyond repair.
    A wistful shiver made Rissa rub her arms
briskly. Romance hadn’t been on her radar for years. Since Malrick
had cursed her, sex had become a necessary task. She did the deed
because she had to, and usually didn't feel any emotion when
walking away from a man's bed. Up until now, sex had been a means
to stay alive. Literally.
    But things had changed. She could no longer
keep her heart out of the equation.
    So why did Kai switch all her emotional
buttons to ‘on’? There had to be more to it than his good looks. He
was a sexy man, even when not kilted, bare-chested, and wielding a
sword. Eroticism wavered from him as if a pheromone. He had a way
of moving like a panther—or rather, a wolf—that screamed for all
women to turn and watch. His dark hair shone under the moonlight
with glints of blue, opposite to her natural silver-white hair. A
long face and nose, and high forehead gave him an intelligent yet
kind demeanor. And bright gray eyes always looked right at her, not
beyond or through her.
    That was it. Kai connected when he
looked at her.
    It was rare mortals were so bold and
comfortable with eye contact, unless they purposely meant to flirt.
Their lives were so busy and superficial when they did slow down to
converse it was with reluctant eye contact and incomplete
attention. Yet Kai, though she knew he was focused on one
thing—getting sexual satisfaction—seemed to genuinely connect with
her.
    Her kind had a good relationship with
werewolves. On the other hand, it could be simply that he could not
resist her vampiric allure.
    That was it. He could never have true
feelings toward her. It was the curse, nothing but.
    "Much as I fear iron," she said, "I'd like to
see you working over the forge some day."
    He nuzzled against her neck and whispered,
"It's hard, sweaty work."
"Now I'm more curious. You, hard and
sweaty?"
    He tugged her up against his long, firm body
and planted a kiss on her mouth. He tasted like everything she felt
she must deny herself. The man's hands moved over her hips and
lifted her from the ground to crush her breasts against his wide
chest. Rissa wiggled her toes and purred into the kiss.
    "Hard and sweaty will come soon enough," he
said.
    "You're already hard, Casanova."
    Opposite the imposing warrior, tonight the
man wore casual jeans, a loose sweater and scuffed Vans tennis
shoes. His hair had been tugged into a loose ponytail, which
further emphasized his long, lean face and those dark brows and
intense eyes.
    So why did she feel as if she were missing
something? That Malakai Saint-Pierre was more than what her eye
saw. Intuition told her only that he was wolf, nothing about his
personal nature, and that frustrated because usually Rissa was
intuitive about people. And since when did she care? He was a means
to survival.
    You know he's more than that.
    "Mind if I get